Bucks panel eyes cases of fatal domestic violence

Four women were killed last year and DA fears system may be broken.

January 19, 2006|By Hal Marcovitz Of The Morning Call

Four wives were victims of murder in Bucks County last year, a statistic that District Attorney Diane E. Gibbons said may be attributable to a breakdown in the system that helps protect women from domestic violence.

On Wednesday, Gibbons announced the establishment of the Bucks County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission, which is searching for similarities in the four cases to determine whether new trends in domestic violence have emerged.

She said the commission eventually will draft a report stating whether its members believe the judicial and social services systems failed the four female victims as well as their spouses and what it may take to fix the problem.

"When you look back at 2005, you can't look back without being concerned about the amount of domestic violence," said Gibbons.

Women who fear their husbands have the option of obtaining protection from abuse orders, which are court orders that prohibit a husband from having contact with his wife. Unmarried women can seek similar protection from boyfriends. If the husband or boyfriend violates the order, he can be jailed. If women fear for their lives, they are urged to seek protection at A Woman's Place, the shelter for battered women in Bucks County.

Members of the 17-member commission include prosecutors, police officers, psychologists, social workers and private attorneys. The panel has met five times since October.

Two of the fatal domestic violence cases in 2005 occurred in Upper Bucks. They included the June 15 slaying of Robin Shaffer by her estranged husband, Jeffrey Ogle, and the June 18 murder of Suzanne Detwiler of East Rockhill Township by her husband, Andrew. Ogle subsequently took his own life, while Andrew Detwiler was killed by a son attempting to protect his mother.

"When you go to a crime scene like we did in Pennridge, it's something you never forget," said the district attorney. "When a son is forced to kill his father, who just killed his mother, it demonstrates the need for this commission."

Gibbons said the panel typically listens to a presentation by police officers who investigated the cases, then interviews witnesses who have agreed to participate. Already, Gibbons said, members of the commission have learned that family members and friends outside the homes of the four victims knew the women were the victims of abusive husbands.

The commission hopes to find out why the victims or their friends took no steps to alert authorities.

"I personally feel that with these murders, people in the community knew what these women were struggling with," said commission member Donna Byrne, executive director of A Woman's Place. "To the best of my knowledge, there was little contact with the system."

Commission member Meg Groff, a New Britain attorney, said she hopes the panel can develop better guidelines that will help attorneys and others recognize when a domestic situation has the potential for turning violent.

"I've had a number of clients murdered, including a child," she said. "It's important for me to ascertain the dangerous cases and take preventive steps."

hal.marcovitz@mcall.com

215 230-4930

DOMESTIC TRAGEDIES

April 22: Susan Czarny, 50, was found on the kitchen floor of the Solebury Township home she shared with her husband, Jon, 48. She was stabbed to death by her husband, whose body was found in a car parked in a nearby shopping center, dead from a drug overdose.

June 15: Robin Shaffer, 43, of Quakertown was shot by her estranged husband, Jeffrey Ogle, 47. After a 10-hour manhunt, Ogle took his own life when confronted by police.

June 18: Suzanne Detwiler, 40, was shot by her husband, Andrew, at the couple's East Rockhill Township home. Moments after Andrew, 44, killed his wife, he was killed by the couple's 15-year-old son, who retrieved a loaded gun in an attempt to protect his mother.